COSCO sets new course to create six businesses

Major shipping firm ups capacity to wrest market share from global rivals

China COSCO Shipping Corporation Ltd announced on Thursday it will raise its operational capacity for twenty-foot equivalent units, a measure of the capacity of container ships and terminals, to more than 2 million TEUs by the end of 2018 to capture greater market share from three European rivals.

Wan Min, general manager of China COSCO Shipping, said Chinese shipping companies mainly transport containers on shipping lines between Asia and Africa and between China and Southeast Asia. But he said they are now focusing on major shipping lines between Asia and Europe and between Asia and North and South America.

The Chinese shipper currently has a capacity of 1.58 million TEUs, which ranks fourth among the world's largest container ship operators.

Denmark's Maersk Line, Switzerland's Mediterranean Shipping Co SA and French shipper CMA CGM SA, the world's top three container ship operators, currently hold around 40 percent of the market share in the world.

"Chinese companies hold a relatively small share," said Wan.

He said new free trade arrangements including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, will also offer new growth points for China COSCO Shipping's container cargo services in the Asia-Pacific region.

Vice-Minister of Transport He Jianzhong said China is supporting its shipping companies with better-equipped ships to compete with international rivals. It is also encouraging them to work on new products, such as liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas carriers.